The Final Straw: A Lumpy Fanfic
by The-Blue-Fanatic
Summary: The Citizens of Happy Tree Town have had enough! Lumpy, their resident idiot has killed yet another Happy Tree Friend. But this time it's their beloved hero Splendid! Will the Tree Friends forgive Lumpy for slaying their super squirrel? Or will they make him suffer with the worst punishment imaginable? Read to find out! Rated T Contains Mild Profanity, Violence and Blue Moose
1. Chapter 1

The Final Straw: A Lumpy Fanfic

Plot- The Citizens of Happy Tree Town have had enough! Lumpy, their resident idiot has killed yet another Happy Tree Friend. HBut this time it's their beloved hero Splendid! Will the Tree Friends forgive Lumpy for slaying their super squirrel? Or will they make him suffer with the worst punishment imaginable? Read to find out! Rated Teen- Contains Mild Profanity, Violence and Blue Moose.

Chapter 1- Birthday Bash

Today was a very special day in Happy Tree Town. It was Splendid's Birthday and everybody in Happy Tree Town was invited to celebrate the super squirrel's special occasion. Critters young and old, bearing food and gifts of all sorts, made the pilgrimage to the park to throw their beloved hero the best surprise party ever. The first friends to arrive at the party were Toothy and Cuddles. The boys were bringing balloons and helium. Toothy then filled up the balloons with helium while Cuddles filled himself up with the gas, and promptly began to imitate Minnie Mouse. No later than when the pair showed up, Sniffles arrived with games and music for the party. Nutty came with the Birthday Cake, which was surprisingly uneaten. Lumpy soon walked over with the burger patties and hotdogs and placed then on the table, but not before tripping on a rock and falling over. Pop came next with his grill to cook the burgers and hotdogs, and Cub followed dragging ketchup and mustard bottles behind him. Soon, all of the Tree Friends were there, to await the arrival of their special guest. The atmosphere was set for the best party ever. Or so everyone thought…..


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- The Special Guest

Meanwhile, Splendid was in his headquarters, knitting a pair of dark purple adult sized onesies. He then tried on his new pajamas and looked at the mirror. No sooner than when he saw his reflection, a scowl much like Handy's formed on Splendid's face. Splendid promptly took off his pajamas and zapped them with his laser. There was no way in hell that he was going to look like Tinkie Winkie the Teletubbie when he went to bed every night. He then swept up the ashes, scooped them up in his hand and open a window to toss them out. Just as he was about close the window, Splendid heard a commotion with his amazing hearing. The sounds of laughter and music filled his ears. Curious, he flew over to the direction of the sounds to find its source. As he flew through the air, the delicious scent of burgers frying and hotdogs sizzling began to creep into his nose and make his mouth water. He then saw the source of the wonderful smells and sounds. It was a birthday party, and all the guests were cheering. He looked closer, and saw that they were cheering at him, cheering his name. Then it hit him, this party wasn't for just anybody. No, this party was for him! The tree friends had thrown him a surprise birthday party and were cheering for him to come down! "Wow!" Splendid gasped. "A party for me?! Woo-Hoo!". And at that Splendid flew down to greet his guests and enjoy the night. This was going to be the best night of his life!..._**Literally**_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3- Cheering and Stealing

As soon as Splendid landed on the ground he was greeted with applause. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPLENDID!" cheered the Tree Friends. Splendid was overcome with the greatest happiness and gratitude that he had ever had in his life. The biggest smile formed on his face as he sang along to "Happy Birthday". He blushed like never before as Giggles planted sweet, seductive kisses on his cheeks. When her lips met his own, he turned a shade of red that would rival Flaky's fur. Tears welled up in his eyes as he received high fives from Sniffles and Toothy and hugs from Cub. Once the hype of his arrival withered down, the energy of the party began to rise up along with the volume of the music. DJ Cro-Marmot was making hits, while Disco Bear was stealing the spotlight at the dance floor, but not the ladies hearts. Speaking of stealing, Happy Tree Town's resident villains Lifty and Shifty, were up to no good. Bored out of their skulls, the troublesome twins spent their day planning their greatest scheme yet! They had all the time they needed because had not been invited to the party for obvious reasons. In fact they didn't even know about it. Either way the brothers didn't care. In fact the party gave them an unprecedented opportunity to pillage and steal! With everyone at the park and no one to watch over the houses, banks and museums, the party gave them a rare advantage over their fellow citizens. With that in mind the twins smiled devilishly. A moment later Shifty gathered all their plans and tools while Lifty locked and secured the house, ironically from other thieves. As soon as engine started the two robbers drove down to Happy Tree Town to commence their night of robberies.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4- The Perfect Crime or the Perfect Gift

Shifty and Lifty hopped out of their van as soon as they hit their first stop, the museum. Shifty picked the locks while Lifty set up the van for a heavy load. Once inside, the twins went to work, smashing glass displays and metal safes to get to the shiny goods. With so many tempting items to pillage the brothers ran in and out of the place with artifacts of all kinds. At the speed of which they were stealing, the van quickly became loaded almost to full capacity. Reluctantly, Shifty motioned for Lifty to hop into the van, so that they could unload the stuff at their house and return for more pillaging. Lifty obediently ran back to his older brother but not before stealing a strange golden idol and a weird, glowing, green stone. Once inside the vehicle, Shifty started the engine and the two drove up a hill to their home. On the way up, tragedy struck for the two raccoons. Shifty and Lifty began to fight about who would keep certain pieces of gold and silver. "I stole the most silver so I should keep most of the silver!" shouted Shifty. "But you have all the gold too so I get nothing!" hollered Lifty. The argument continued for about ten minute but then escalated when Shifty saw the green stone in Lifty's arms. Looking at the stone instead of the road, Shifty asked "What is that in your arms, is that an emerald?"Still angry at his brother Lifty snarled "Emeralds don't glow s***head." Envious of his brother's find, Shifty waited till his brother was off guard. "Well, whatever it is, I'm stealing it!" Shift snarled as he snatched the stone out of Lifty's arms. Lifty leaped out of his seat to get back his stone and began to fist fight with his brother. In the process of reclaiming his prize, Lifty dropped the golden idol one the floor of the van. Being the master of bad luck, the idol conveniently rolled underneath Shifty's feet, causing him to step on the idol instead of the gas pedal. The idol then got stuck on the gas pedal, making the van go from 30 to 120. In no time the van crashed into a small ditch, sending the two twins flying out of the windshield. Shifty tumbled down the hill and splattered on the side of a tree while Lifty landed head first onto a boulder, splitting his head open like an egg. Ironically, the golden idol landed safely on Lifty's open hand while the strange glowing stone rolled down the rest of the hill and towards the park.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5- Present Problem

Meanwhile the party rocked on with the residents of Happy Tree Town partying harder than they ever did before. Cub was passed out and fast asleep (not dead for once) on a bench while his father tirelessly grilled the food. Giggles flirted with every boy on the dance floor while Petunia fed Handy his hotdog with her teeth, eventually locking her lips with his. The Mole was standing in the punch bowl, trying to seduce an ice sculpture of Splendid while Toothy and Cuddles were dying (not literally) of laughter watching him. Russell was running around, laughing like a manic, swinging his hooked hand and murdering every balloon he could find while guzzling down rum from a bottle. Flaky was nervously shaking with fear, trying to keep Flippy in check with all the balloons popping while Nutty was chugging soda down his throat. DJ Cro-Marmot was melting under the heat of the atmosphere while Disco Bear danced himself into a minor heart attack. Despite all the craziness that was going on, Splendid was still the center of attention at the party. This was especially the case when the time for opening gifts arrived. All eyes were on him at every moment has he received and opened his gifts. Everyone in the group had the same thought about their gifts, "Is he going to like it?" Everybody from Flaky to Lumpy was worried about this…especially Lumpy.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter- 6 Moose Mission

Lumpy at this point was both scared and angry. He was scared because he had brought Splendid a surprisingly nice suit case. Unfortunately, he had broken it by accident when he had used it to break his fall when he had tripped. This meant that he would have to find Splendid another gift and fast! But he was mostly angry about the fact that the narrator and author of this fanfic had forgotten about his existence for the past three chapters, despite that fact that this story had his name in the title and was supposed to be a Lumpy Fanfic…..BUT ANYWAYS…Lumpy was in a bad pinch. While Splendid and the others were distracted by the gift opening, he searched around for a potential gift. Giving up he decided to do the next best thing, steal someone else's gift and claim it as his own. He slowly crept towards the gift pile unnoticed and quietly grabbed a gift. He looked to see whose gift it was to Splendid and found a tag reading, "To my gratest heroe, Splendad, Love Cub". Lumpy immediately felt a great feeling of shame and guilt course through his mind upon reading the tag. This was little Cub's gift to Splendid! How was that poor baby bear going to feel if his gift was stolen?! Lumpy sighed as tears welled up in his eyes as guilt consumed him. Lumpy may have been a complete dumb*** but even he knew it was wrong to steal anyone's gift to Splendid, especially Cub's. So at that the moose quickly put the gift down the gift and sadly continued his search. Even though he had some time due to Splendid having almost a hundred gifts to open, Lumpy was still having no luck. Soon he felt like giving up when suddenly he saw a strange green glow. Curious, Lumpy walked over to the glow to investigate its source. He came to some bushes and pushed them apart with his hands to find a strange, glowing, green stone! Lumpy's eyes grew as big as saucers as he picked up the strange object in his hand to look at it more closely. As he walked around mesmerized by the rock, he soon stepped on something squishy and looked down to find his foot covered in splattered brains, specifically raccoon brains. Lumpy let out a girlish squeak as he jumped back from the raccoon remains. His disgust would not last long as he looked up further past the scattered remains to see a van full of stolen gold and silver! Lumpy dropped his jaw in shock and amazement at this lucky find and gently pick up some of the artifacts. "Holy cow!" Lumpy gasped. "I could make lots o money with this van here!" Remembering his mission, Lumpy looked around to see what items he could give to Splendid. He still wanted to give Splendid the green glowing stone, but he also wanted to make to stone even cooler by adding gold or silver to it. In the process of shopping, Lumpy found a nice silver staff, a beautiful golden crown and a big golden chain to make a necklace. But how was he going to attach the stone to the chain? Lumpy decided that the best approach was to tie the stone to the necklace, but that didn't work. So Lumpy looked around for something to bind the stone with. He was about to give up when he saw some chewing gum on the dashboard of the van. Seeing the gum, Lumpy got a crazy idea. He took the gum and popped in his mouth and chewed frantically until it was just right. Then he took it out, placed it on the chain and slapped the stone on top of the gum. He waited a few minutes for the gum to dry and picked up the chain to see if it worked. Surprisingly the stone stuck to the chain, and didn't even budge when he put the necklace on for size. Pleased with his work, Lumpy let out a satisfied "Mmmmm-Hmm" as he nodded his head and ran straight to the park. But not before decking himself out in gold like a rapper, and posing like an Egyptian in front of the van's rear view mirror.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7- Gruesome Gift and Birthday Crash

Meanwhile at the park, Splendid was finishing up unwrapping all of his gifts from Giggles. He had just one person left on his list and that person was Lumpy. "Alright, now. Who did I miss?" Splendid happily mused as he checked off his list of guests. "Let's see, Handy, check! Lammy check! Russell, check! Mime, check! Oh! Lumpy! Of course! Now where is that silly blue moose at?" Splendid looked into the colorful crowd of critters before him, but could not find the blue moose anywhere. Due to his tall height and crooked antlers, Lumpy would have been as noticeable in the group as a wart on a finger. Confused but not disappointed, Splendid simply shrugged his shoulders and decided to thank all the Tree Friends for their wonderful surprise party and go home with his gifts.

Just as he contemplated this, Splendid along with the others turned towards the forest to hear frantic footsteps and breathing. Suddenly, from out of the bushes dashed out a blue moose lavished in golden jewelry. It was Lumpy, and he was dancing with glittery gifts in hand. Amused, Splendid sat back down in his chair, snickering at the moose's foolish dance moves. After some goofy dancing and boos from a jealous Disco Bear, Lumpy skipped over to Splendid. He gracefully bowed down exclaiming "Merry Christmas!" and handed him a silver staff. Splendid gasped in amazement along with the others, as he took the staff from Lumpy. The staff was silver with blue sapphires around it and a blue diamond at the top. The staff was so amazing that it even rivaled Sniffle's gift, an Italian robot chef. As he was about to turn and thank Lumpy for his wonderful present, Lumpy simply surprised him again by handing him another gift, a beautiful golden crown. "Oooh" Splendid cooed as he placed the golden crown upon his head. The golden crown was padded with white fluff at the bottom and studded with red rubies around it and a red sapphire in the middle. At this point Lumpy was showing off and beaming with pride. There was no doubt that he had brought the best gifts at the party, and yet he still had one more surprise left. As Splendid once again turned to thank him, Lumpy handed him the golden chain with the glowing stone, his last and most special gift. Consumed with deep happiness and even deeper gratitude, Splendid simply shed a tear of joy as Lumpy clasped the chain around his neck. Splendid studied his wonderful new necklace, especially the glowing, green stone attached to it. He them leaped out of his chair and gave Lumpy a nonlethal hug, and ran over to a mirror that Giggles gave him, to check out his new look.

As he posed in the mirror Splendid began to have a terrible headache and felt suddenly nauseous. Thinking that the crown was too tight for his head, Splendid took it off and handed it to Lumpy to temporarily hold it until he recovered. But the headache only persisted and the nausea got worse. Suddenly he jaw dropped open and he threw up! Everyone gasped and made sounds of disgust as the fountain of puke landed on a few electrical cords. Luckily, the switch for the park's electricity wasn't on, so there was no chance of an electrical disaster. Still, everyone in the crowd was more worried about their beloved hero's well being than a potential fire. Splendid, quickly covered his mouth and forcefully swallowed the rest of the barf down his throat to avoid anymore embarrassment. At that point he decided to say his goodbyes and call it a night before he caused any more trouble. As he thought of this plan, he felt his hands and chest tingle with pain. He looked down to the source of the pain and discovered the cause. It was the green stone that was the source of all this trouble! And the longer he had it on, the sicker he grew. Without a second thought, Splendid grabbed the necklace and threw it on the ground. As he heard gasps of shock from the other Tree Friends, Splendid stomped on the stone until it was nothing but dust.

Freed of his suffering, Splendid breathed a sigh of relief. He then heard someone sniffling and whimpering. He looked over to see Lumpy on the ground sweeping up the dust from the stone into a pan and crying. Seeing that he had unintentionally hurt the moose's feelings, Splendid walked over to him and rubbed his shoulder, assuring the moose that everything was alright. Lumpy smiled his goofy smile and wiped off his tears. He then got up and gave Splendid a nice hug as the other Tree Friends awed at the display of affection. Soon the two blue critters broke the hug and laughed off the negative feelings. As the two of them giggled, Lumpy paused as he felt a tickle in his nose and quit laughing. Splendid saw this and put his finger to Lumpy's snout to stop his sneeze. Lumpy breathed out with relief and thanked Splendid when suddenly, he sneezed "Ahh-choo!" sending the dust from the stone right into Splendid's face! Splendid rubbed his eyes to rid himself of the dust, but it was too late! The effects of the stone's dust were starting to course through his body as he breathed in the remains. Suddenly he began to feel itchy and scratched at his face, only for chunks of skin and fur to peel off his head! He then began to throw up great amounts of puke and spew out of both his mouth and nose! The chunks of barf landed on everything and everyone, effectively grossing out every Tree Friend into throwing up too. In a desperate attempt to stop more the vile liquid from leaving his body, Splendid forcefully blocked both his mouth and his nose. This was a decision he would soon regret, because as soon as he covered his mouth and nose, he began to forcefully swallow the puke. This caused his body to swell up like a balloon. Then without warning, he exploded, sending organs and other body parts in all directions! His brain hit the switch for the park's electricity, setting the generators from "OFF" to "ON". While his legs and arms knocked over kiddie pools, sending water towards the cords.

As if things could not get worse, the puke that had landed on the electrical cords and equipment had corroded them, exposing their wires and sending sparks in all directions! Every critter in the park began to panic and run around with fear as the sparks set gifts and tables on fire and the stage ablaze. Cro-Marmot got trapped in a pile of burning poles and Disco Bear got a massive heart attack. Pop and Cub were set ablaze from the grill exploding. Flippy flew into a post traumatic fit and began murdering every Tree Friend he could catch. Sniffle's Italian robot chef malfunctioned and began to butcher Nutty and Sniffles. Petunia, Mime and Giggles stepped into puddles of electrocuted water and got shocked to death. The Mole was carrying his ice sculpture girlfriend to safety but was crushed by a falling tree on the way to his car. Toothy and Cuddles were running into the street when they got hit by a fire truck. The fire truck veered off the road and hit Flaky, Russell and Handy, thanks to Toothy's and Cuddle's remains getting stuck in the tires. The fire truck soon crashed into the burning pile of gifts, sending fire chief Truffles flying out of the windshield and getting impaled on a pole over the fires. There he slowly roasted to death over the open blaze.

Lumpy in the meantime was seeking cover and running as fast as he could to avoid getting killed himself. He was almost to the forest when suddenly, Flippy leaped out of the bushes. Terrified, Lumpy ran in the other direction while Flippy pursued him. Lumpy spotted a baseball bat and a piñata. He got behind the piñata and waited for Flippy to get close enough. Then he swung the piñata towards Flippy, entangling him with the strings in the process. Then Lumpy grabbed the bat and beat Flippy to a pulp. Lumpy then threw down the bat and ran to some bushes for safety.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8- Lone Survivor

When the fire burned everything to ashes and finally died down, Lumpy peeked out from the bushes to see the carnage. Burned gifts and equipment were steaming and crumbling. The Italian Robot chef was busy putting the finishing touches on a plate of Squirrel Tortellini and Anteater Linguini. Blood covered the ground and body parts were strewn everywhere.

Normally, whenever great massacres like this happened, Lumpy would feel relieved that he had survived and continue on his way. Then he would regroup with the others once they had respawned and things would be fine. Even if the killings were his fault, the Tree Friends would forgive him and continue to include him in their lives. But this time was different, not only was he at fault for ruining the party but also for killing everyone else, including Splendid. Lumpy had killed all of the Tree Friends more than once, but had never killed Cro-Marmot or even remotely injured Splendid. But on this night, Lumpy had managed to do the impossible, cause a fire to kill Cro-Marmot and kill Splendid with kindness. Lumpy couldn't fathom how he could cause such a disaster but he knew one thing and it was this; He had ruined the best party ever. Perhaps the best party that had ever happened in everyone's lives, and he was going to be in deep doo-doo with everybody once they had respawned.

Realizing just how much trouble he was in, Lumpy began to feel a special kind of dread. The kind of dread that a small child would feel whenever they knock over a vase, or break a window. But for Lumpy, this feeling was much worse, if not a thousand times worse. With fear, dread and guilt consuming his soul, Lumpy ran as fast as he could out of the park and straight to his home. Just like a child who is in trouble, Lumpy searched for the best place to hide in his home. Once there he immediately barged into his bedroom, locked the door, covered his windows and jumped into the one place where a child feels safe, his closet. There he grabbed some blankets, a supply of cheese and water, a flashlight and a teddy bear. Then he closed the door, intending on never leaving his home again.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9- Re-spawned with Repulsive Memories

Over a period of days, Happy Tree Town began to repopulate with its re-spawned citizens. They would wake up tired and sore, in their original, undamaged bodies. To each critter, the feeling would be as if they were rising from an intense hibernation. Yet, through some mysterious force of nature or magic, they would somehow retain the last thoughts in their heads before they perished. And the recent memories that came to each and every critter were not good ones. Sure, they remembered the party of their lives, but they also remembered how it ended. Each and every citizen remembered their deaths and how they felt. Sniffles for example, remembered the torturous process of being shredded into Linguini, while Giggles remembered the intense burn of electrified water as it fried her body. Handy cringed at the memory of getting hit by the fire truck and splattering on its grill. Disco Bear cupped his chest because it still hurt from his massive heart attack, on an emotional level. With the exception of Shifty and Lifty, every Tree Friend was filled with hate and distain from the one attendant that didn't die. And his name was Lumpy. Any memory of a blue moose with crooked antlers sent fires of fury and disappointment in each and every citizen that was there at the party. With anti-moose thoughts in their heads, every tree friend from Cuddles to Russell simultaneously left their homes and walked into the middle of town to gather their numbers and express their distain.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10- Town Meeting

By 11:30 that morning, everyone had congregated to the middle of town. Each critter was as equally surprised as the next to see everyone here. Out of curiosity, Toothy decided to count and name whoever was there.

"Hmmm..."the purple beaver mused. "Let's see...There's Nutty, Lammy, The Mole, Cub, Pop, Disco Bear, Flippy, Flaky, Russell, Cro-Marmot, Mime, Giggles, Petunia, Cuddles, Sniffles and myself." The beaver exclaimed with a beaming smile. However, the beaver's happy grin turned into a confused frown upon realizing that he had forgotten a few other members.

"Hmmm...Now who did I forget?"

"You forgot about Truffles, Shifty and Lifty." Cuddles happily chimed in. He then frowned when he realized who else wasn't present. "And...Splendid" said the yellow rabbit with tearing eyes. The boys frowned. Everyone else had respawned but Splendid. But there was one more person that the boys forgot.

"Papa? Where's Lumpy?" Cub asked his father. The crowd went silent. 14 pairs of surprised eyes stared back at both Pop and Cub. Cub was right. Everyone was present except one...Lumpy. It was at that moment that the group realized why they had amassed. Everyone had angry thoughts about the blue moose, and with good reason. Not only had Lumpy killed everyone present, but he had also killed Splendid. Thus they had each followed the urge to express their displeasure amongst the others.

Sniffles, being the most intelligent member, decided to speak up. During his walk from his laboratory to the town square, he was brainstorming. Thinking of a way to get back at Lumpy for taking away his idol Splendid. Using his megaphone, Sniffles spoke over the crowd to get their attention.

"Attention everyone! Attention everyone! I have a plan to get Lumpy!"

The group now had now given him their full attention.

"As we all know, Lumpy has not only killed us all but has also killed our dear friend and hero, Splendid. Though the rest of us have returned, Splendid has not. Thus I have come to the conclusion that Splendid is dead..._Forever_."

Petunia and Giggles gasped in horror. Cub began to whimper sadly. Toothy burst into tears and wailed in agony. Pop rolled his eyes in annoyance as he comforted Cub. Sniffles himself began to shed tears, upon realizing that his hero was gone too. Struggling to maintain his composure, Sniffles continued his speech.

"Therefore, in order to avenge our dear hero Splendid, we must capture Lumpy. As soon as he is apprehended, we will punish him for his actions and find a way to destroy him permanently. So that he will never come back."

Sniffles waited a few moments to allow the rest of the group to process his plan. From what he could tell, the group had approved of his idea. Happy with the results, Sniffles decided to ask his audience if they would like to join him. "I cannot avenge Splendid alone. Therefore, I am asking all of you to join me. Will you join me?" The anteater asked pleadingly. The group responded unanimously with a yes. "Wonderful! Splendid would be proud of all of you. Let's go onward!" The anteater exclaimed.

"But I'm hungry!" Cuddles whined. "Yeah, me too." Said Toothy. Sniffles glared at the pair. This was an important mission and all those two could care about was food?! Sniffles marched up to the rabbit and beaver "We can eat after we..." *growl* sniffles looked down at his own stomach in surprise. No one, not even him, had eaten anything since they had woken up. Defeated, Sniffles sighed. "Fine. We'll eat lunch and capture Lumpy later." He groaned. No point in searching on an empty stomach. At that the group headed to Petunia's coffeehouse


	11. Chapter 11

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>p style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress; max-width: 100%;"After lunch, the Tree Friends spent the next few hours gathering ropes, duct tape, flashlights and other supplies for capturing Lumpy. In the meantime, the moose himself was on the toilet, quietly reading a magazine. After flushing the toilet and washing his hands, Lumpy walked out of his bathroom. Tired from crying, the blue moose decided to rest on the couch. He checked his watch and saw that it was a href="x-apple-data-detectors:0"3:15pm/a. "I suppose I could take a small nap." The moose yawned as he lay in the couch. /p  
>p style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress; max-width: 100%;"By nightfall the moose had woken up. He looked at the clock on the wall. It was a href="x-apple-data-detectors:1"7:45 pm/a. Dinner time. Lumpy rose up from the couch and headed towards the fridge. The fridge was still stuffed with food, mostly cheese and chocolate. Slurping his tongue, Lumpy grabbed half a wheel of cheese and a box of chocolates. He then closed the fridge with his foot and headed towards the couch. /p  
>p style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress; max-width: 100%;"During the the first few days of hiding, Lumpy got hungry and emptied his fridge. He soon realized that he would need more food for the future and reluctantly left the house to gather some more. He had been sustaining himself by stealing food from the supermarket where Nutty and Flaky worked. With everyone else gone, Lumpy was free to do what he wanted until they respawned. Including robbing the bank and shoplifting in the mall. At least, that's what he saw Shifty and Lifty doing last Wednesday.p  
>p style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress; max-width: 100%;"Lumpy was too focused on storing food and supplies inside his home instead of stealing money and merchandise. He had watched enough zombie movies to know that stocking up on food, water and medicine was a great priority. Lumpy bit down on his cheese and savored every piece of it with each chew. The taste of cheese always made Lumpy feel better. Even when the worst of situations. Chocolate however was a close second. And with both cheese and chocolate in front of him, Lumpy had begun to briefly forgot his troubles. However, the rest of the world around him was quick to remind him as to why he was alone and hidden in his house. Not long after he finished his cheese and chocolate, Lumpy heard a strange noise. He looked out the window and was shocked at what he saw. p  
>p style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress; max-width: 100%;"A huge crowd of his friends had gathered in the streets and we're now headed to his house. Flashlights pierced the night sky and angry shouts and yells filled the atmosphere. It was like that scene in Frankenstein where the villagers were marching towards the castle with pitch forks and torches. Stopping at nothing to kill the monster. Except this time, the monster was emhimem. /p  
>p style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress; max-width: 100%;"Lumpy gulped at the reality of it all. From what he could see, some of his friends were carrying ropes and duct tape. Flaky even had a baseball bat in her shaky hands. Seeing that the group was perhaps no less than a block away from him, Lumpy wisely chose to run for it. He ran to the fridge and grabbed as many chocolate boxes and much cheese as he could carry and ran for the garage. He unlocked the car and stuffed the food into the back seat. He then jumped into the drivers seat, put the key in the ignition and turned the key. The car roared to life but didn't budge, no matter how hard Lumpy pushed on the gas petal. Lumpy looked at the gas meter and to his horror realized that it was empty. p  
>p style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress; max-width: 100%;""Goddamnit! God f**king dammit! Lumpy yelled, as he pounded the wheel with his fist. He then leaped out of the car and ran out the back door. Lumpy at this point, had no choice but to run on foot. Panicked and frightened, Lumpy ran into the junkyard where Shifty and Lifty lived. He could hide there at least until morning. p  
>p style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress; max-width: 100%;"5 minutes later, the group arrived at his house. Russell politely went up to the front door and gently knocked on it. Despite what Lumpy had done, Russell still felt obligated to stay loyal to him, as Lumpy was his best friend. Despite being angry at Lumpy, Russell still hated himself for joining the hunt for the moose. But he knew that Lumpy needed to face some sort of retribution for his actions. Russell knocked again, calling out Lumpy's name, but there was no answer. Sniffles at this point, had enough of Russell's lack of progress. He shoved past Russell and banged on the door. Still no response. So Sniffles motioned Cro-Marmont to slam through the door. The frozen rodent managed to break open the door in two tries. Now inside, the group spread out and searched the rooms for the moose. They checked the closets, they checked the bathroom. They checked the garage and basements. They checked the front yard and the backyard. They checked the kitchen, the living room and even the attic. Yet the moose still did not turn up. p  
>p style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress; max-width: 100%;"Still determined to find him, Sniffles commanded the group to follow him to the junkyard. He was about to take a step forward, when he felt a tug on his shoulder. Sniffles turned around to see Pop behind him. "Yes, Pop?" Asked Sniffles. "You don't mind if me and Cub go home, do you? After all, its past Cub's bedtime." The older bear asked.p  
>p style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress; max-width: 100%;"Sniffles let out a frustrated sigh. Lumpy it seemed, was one step ahead of them. There were so many places that he could be hiding. But the group was now took tired to look. Sniffles decided to allow everyone to go home in order to get some rest. By morning he would lead the group back to the middle of town to discuss further plans. p 


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12-A Helping Hand

By morning, Sniffles was at the town square. He had been their since 4:30 in the morning. He glanced at his watch nervously and tapped his foot impatiently. He needed everyone here and right now to start the search. By 9:35 his patience had worn out. Frustrated by the lack of effort from his friends, Sniffles took it upon himself to go to everyone's home and remind them as to why he was here.

His first stop was Nutty's house. To his surprise the green squirrel was already up and running towards him to greet him. "Blurgablehahh!" The squirrel could only say, as he had just eaten an entire bag of sugar for breakfast. The squirrel however was still focused enough to follow Sniffles as he went from house to house. He was greeted by groggy faces and grumpy stares, but nonetheless was undeterred by their lack of urgency. Getting Splendid the justice that he deserved was all that mattered. Even at the expense of precious sleep.

By high noon, 18 Tree Friends were present at Lumpy's property. Sniffles counted them all by name. "Let's see..." He mumbled as he took out his checklist. "Sniffles, Giggles, Flaky, Petunia, Handy, Russell, Pop, Cub, Mime, The Mole, Cro-Marmot, Lammy, Truffles, Disco Bear, Flippy, Cuddles, Toothy, and Nutty." The anteater was content. Everyone from yesterday was here. Wasting no time, Sniffles started the search again.

They started at Lumpy's house. Russell had suggested to Sniffles that they search his house again in case the moose had gone back. Like last time, the search was fruitless. Sniffles called everyone back to suggest other places that they could search.

Sniffles surveyed the area to find nearby places to search. He soon spotted the junkyard. At that moment, Sniffles realized just who lived there. "Shifty and Lifty." He growled in a low whisper. The pair were Splendid's worst enemies. In fact they weren't even invited to his party. So it was entirely possible that Lumpy may have ran to them for shelter and that they helped him. Most likely due to the fact that he had killed their mortal enemy. If his theory was correct, Lumpy may be hiding with the twins at this very moment. At that, Sniffles headed to the junkyard with his group in tow.

Soon the group reached the junkyard where the twins resided in. In the middle of the junkyard was a run down house. Cuddles walked up to the house and knocked on the door. No answer. The twins most likely though that it was the police at their door. So Cuddles tried a different tactic. "It's ok to come out. We aren't the police. We just need your help with something."

"This better be quick!" Yelled Shifty as he unlocked the door. "What do you want?!" He huffed as the door opened. Sniffles stepped forward and spoke up. "We were wondering if you or Lifty had seen Lumpy lately."

"We haven't seen that idiot in quite a while actually." Shifty said as he leaned against the doorframe.

"Well, in that case, can you help us find him?" Asked the anteater.

"We'll help you find that blue moron if you make a deal with us." Shifty replied.

"What kind of deal?" The anteater asked with one eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"Well, Big Nose." Shifty sighed while flicking Sniffles snout. "We will help you if you sign this contract." Lifty unrolled a piece of paper and handed it to Sniffles. Sniffles took the paper from Lifty. "You and your friends pay us 50 cents for each hour that you don't find Lumpy." Said Shifty.

Sniffles did the math in his head. If all 18 of them were to search for at least 12 hours, each person would have to pay 50 cents for each hour. "12 hours times 50 cents equals $6.00 for each person." Sniffles mused. Sniffles then multiplied $6.00 by 18 Tree Friends. This meant that the twins would collect a total of $108.00 dollars in just one day of searching.

Sniffles clenched his fists in anger upon realizing how much money the twins would make off of his group. Seeing that the anteater's patience was wearing thin, Lifty chimed in on the negation in order to retain Sniffle's interest in them. "The payments will only stop when you find him or if everyone decides to end the search." The younger twin said with a sly smile.

"That's so stupid!" Whined Giggles. "We'll be broke if the search goes on long enough!" Handy chimed in. "You know I would have gotten my beauty sleep in if I hadn't got up for this!" Groaned Disco Bear.

"Do you understand why we are doing this?!" Sniffles snapped. Everyone went silent. Nobody had expected the anteater to display such an outburst of frustration. "We are doing this not for ourselves, but for Splendid!" He continued. Shifty was quite amused by the geek's apparent distress and decided to talk. "In that case, are you going to make a decision yet? We don't have all day you know."

Sniffles scoffed and looked away from the twins. Seeing that Sniffles hadn't outright said no to their deal, Shifty decided to provoke him further with one very important detail.

"If I remember correctly from childhood, wasn't Lumpy the self proclaimed king of hide and seek?" The raccoon inquired with a sly grin.

Sniffles looked back at Shifty surprised. He then answered, "Yes. He was a very skilled opponent in that game. In fact, the only way that I could locate him was through using my infrared camera. Why?"

"Well with skills like that, he could be _anywhere_. He could be hiding under the sewers. He could be in the ventilation systems of any building in town. Or he could be hiding here in plain sight. Either way, he's hiding and he's good at it. And if you wanna find him you're gonna need as many people as you can get. Otherwise you're on your own." Shifty said with a smirk. The raccoon now had the upper hand. It was only a matter of time before Sniffles would say yes to the deal. The anteater would be foolish to not acknowledge the credibility of his words.

Meanwhile, Sniffles pouted with frustration. He hated to admit that the thief was right. Lumpy may have been a complete fool, but he was a master at hiding. That was years ago, when Lumpy was just a teenager. Lumpy at this point, could potentially be better at hiding than before. Making the search for him, even more difficult. And with someone like that, Sniffles could use all the help he could get. Even if the assistance came from two criminals.

"Touché" the anteater sighed in defeat, as he reluctantly signed Shifty's contract. He then shook Shifty's hand and placed 50 cents in Lifty's collection jar. With the deal now finalized, Shifty and Lifty grabbed their flashlights and joined the rest of the group in their search for Lumpy.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13-Home Sweet Home

Meanwhile, somewhere in a distant planet, a blue flying squirrel awakens in his bed. He looks at his surroundings and lets out a sigh of relief. The white walls with pink floral print. The red furniture and rosy pink upholstery. He is in the safest place in the universe. His grandmother's house. As happy as he was to be back home, something bothered the squirrel. In the two times that he had died previously, he had been respawned back at his house in Happy Tree Town. But this time he was back at his grandmother's home. Confused, Splendid shrugged his shoulders and got out of bed to greet his grandmother.

Grandma had a very special place in Splendid's heart. She had taken Splendid under her care when he was just a boy. This was because he had accidentally killed his parents. Splendid was testing his laser beam vision. Getting bored, he decided to test it on a mirror. To his surprise the beam bounced off the mirror. Delighted by the sight, Splendid aimed again and again, sending stray beams everywhere. Unfortunately his father happened to be in the yard close by. Two laser beams pieced through his stomach while the third boiled his head. His mother ran to her husband's aid only to get set on fire by three of them. Splendid watched in horror as his parents perished. Sometime after their funerals, his Grandmother took him in.

Grandma had taught him everything about cooking, cleaning, knitting and sewing. She also taught him reading and writing skills. Skills that Splendid later put to use when he worked at the Daily Acorn. By the time he was an adult, Splendid had mastered the art of knitting and journalism.

As he thought about his beloved granny, a wonderful smell hit his nose. Splendid recognized that aroma from anywhere. Grandma was probably in the kitchen, baking Cosmic Chip Cookies. The scent only grew stronger once he entered the kitchen. Just as predicted, Grandma was there.

"Hello, Grandma!" Splendid cooed."My little comet! You're home! And where on Krypton have you been?!" She exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips.

"I have been on Earth, rescuing friends and beating up enemies. Oh and I got a promotion at my job." replied Splendid.

"How wonderful!" She exclaimed. Grandma then put away her red oven mitts and ran over to give Splendid a hug. If there was one thing that made Splendid feel safe and sound, it was a hug from Grandma. He always felt safe, warm and comfortable in her grasp. Grandma soon broke the hug to get a better look at her grandson.

"Have you grown taller young man?" She asked.

"I don't think I have." He replied.

"Well I certainly have gotten older." The elderly squirrel groaned. "My hips hurt, my knees crack and my blue fur has more grey tips on it." She complained. "But as long as I can bake and sew, then I will be okay." She chortled

"Please sit down at the table, and tell me more about your life on Earth." She said.

Splendid sat down at the table and helped Grandma brew some Space Coffee. When the coffee was done, Grandma brought out some Black Hole Biscuits and decided to talk.

"So how are your friends?" Grandma asked.

"Well" Splendid said. "Let's see...Cuddles and Giggles are dating. Handy and Petunia are engaged. Sniffles is getting his college degree. Russell opened a new seafood restaurant. Mime is working for the circus. The Mole closed his barbershop, because it was infested with fleas. Pop is teaching Cub how to walk. Flippy still has PTSD. Nutty is still sugar addicted. Shift and Lifty now live in a junkyard. Mr. Pickles lost his battle with mold and mildew. Lammy has been mourning him ever since. Flaky is going to counseling to combat her anxiety issues. Toothy is applying for a job at a dentists office. And Cro-Marmot is now a DJ."

"And that blue creature. What's his name? Lucky? Lappy? Loopy? Limpy?...Ugh! What is his name?" She grumbled

"Lumpy?" Replied Splendid.

"Yes! Him! You haven't told me about him or how you two met." She replied.

"Oh, you're right!" Said Splendid.

"So how did you meet him?" She inquired.

"I first met Lumpy when I rescued him. In fact, he was the first Earthling that I rescued." Said Splendid.

"Oh...and what was happening to him?" Grandma asked curiously.

"He was stuck on some bear traps. Apparently there was cheese on them and he wanted the cheese. So he grabbed the cheese and got trapped by the traps."

"He sounds like a complete fool" Grandma giggled.

"He is one, but he's always been nice to others." replied Splendid. "Anyway, I came over and chopped off the traps. He was so thankful of my help that he gave me all the cheese." Said Splendid.

"Aww! How kind of him" cooed Grandma.

"Eventually, Lumpy hired me to work at the Daily Acorn and he became my boss." He replied.

"Is he the blue creature that always gets himself and others killed?" Asked Grandma.

"Lumpy? Yes. Yes he's the one. In fact he has killed everyone more than once before." Said Splendid.

"Has he ever killed you before?" She asked.

"This is the first time that Lumpy has killed me. How come?" He replied.

Grandma gave Splendid a concerned look. She knew just how popular her grandson was on Earth. Judging from the stories that Splendid had told her about the Tree Friends panicking whenever he was gone, Grandma could only surmise that Lumpy was in big trouble.

"Your friend is in grave danger, my dear. Because he had killed you. Because you are not just any friend." said Grandma in a serious tone.

"He's fine, Grandma. He's killed everyone else before and they still have forgiven him. The most they could do is give him the cold shoulder. Besides, I'm just a superhero to them after all." Said Splendid.

Grandma sensed her grandson's disbelief and continued further. "You are not just a superhero to them, dear. You are a _savior_. You are a savior, because you can fly, use laser vision, and super strength to rescue them from danger. And now that their savior is gone, they are all very upset. They loved you enough to idolize you, and they love you enough now, to hurt the very person who has taken you away. Even if it means punishing him with _permanent_ _death._ From what you have told me about your friends, nothing seems to destroy them permanently. So I shudder to think about what cruel and violent methods they may use to end Lumpy's life for good."

Splendid's eyes widened with worry. Were his friends really going to kill Lumpy? And if so, were they really going to kill him in the worst way possible? Using a method so sadistic and violent, that he would _never, ever respawn?_

Grandma continued speaking again in order to convince her grandson to go back to Earth. "If you want to save him you will need to step in between him and the rest of your friends. Otherwise they will hurt him, in order to avenge you." Grandma continued.

"I must get to him before they do!" the blue squirrel exclaimed.

At that Splendid raised his arms to prepare for flight. "Not so fast young man! You are not going to break through my ceiling this time. Now walk out the front door like a mature adult!" Grandma angrily scolded Splendid. Splendid let out a sigh and walked out the front door. Grandma followed him outside. "And be back by dinner time! Or there will be no Cosmic Cookies for you!" She yelled as he prepared for his flight. "Yes, Grandma!" replied Splendid. Splendid then raised his arms in the air, aimed for the sky and flew into space.


End file.
